Olympic Tickets: The Sales Begin Again

September 28, 2005

The Torino 2006 ticket office is open again. People can start buying tickets again for the Olympic and Paralympic events through all the regular sales channels: The Italian public can book their tickets online through the website: www.torino2006.org/tickets, in the 3,000 branches of the SanPaolo bank and banks of the group, at all TicketOne sales points, or by telephoning 848 88 2006. In the European Community area, tickets will be on sale through the Torino 2006 website or by calling +39 039 83 82 50 as well as through their National Olympic/Paralympic Committees. In other parts of the world, tickets can be bought through their National Olympic/Paralympic Committees or Official sales agents. (cosport.com)

In the past three weeks when ticket sales were closed, places were assigned to the over 460,000 tickets ordered by the public from November 4, 2004 until September 5, 2005, by the Sponsors, by the 85 Olympic Committees of the participating countries and by the seven international sports federations. Following a “seat assignment” procedure, seats were allocated with a statistical system used for all big sports events and approved by the IOC; this system guarantees the best seating arrangement of the spectators according to the layout of the sports facilities.

With 135 days to go to the Torino 2006 Opening Ceremony, the ticket office has opened again after selling 56% of the total tickets, and for 63 competitions, more than 70 % of the tickets available. No event is sold out yet, but some of the price brackets are no longer available for many competitions. So, if you are interested in following the Games in person, you should not delay making arrangements for the Olympic experience.

More than 130,000 tickets have already been sold for Ice Hockey, 52,000 for Speed Skating, 45,000 for Figure Skating, 40,000 for Alpine Skiing and 22,000 for the Curling matches. Still available are some ” Follow My Team Finali ” subscriptions for the men’s Ice Hockey; these ticket packets allow fans to choose one of the following teams: Italy, Germany, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, or Switzerland (the others are sold out) and follow its matches in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and in the finals for the Olympic title. If the chosen team is eliminated, the subscription assures a seat at the finals following another team, through an assignment system set up by the Torino 2006 ticketing office.

On the occasion of the reopening, the Torino 2006 ticket office is rewarding its public with a special initiative: ” Bring a friend to the Games and win an exclusive invitation to the Medal Plaza ” . Everyone who has bought one or more tickets (leaving his or her e-mail address) will receive an e-mail message from Torino 2006 with the invitation to involve family members and friends in the Olympic experience. The mechanism is very simple: if, when you buy a ticket on the site: www.torino2006.org/tickets, you indicate ” codice Torino 2006 ” (Torino 2006 code) of a friend who has already bought tickets and who has involved you in the initiative, your friend will be given two free exclusive invitations to the Medal Plaza.

The Medal Plaza (Piazza delle Medaglie) is where, in the impressive setting of Piazza Castello in the centre of Torino, every evening from the 11th to the 25th of February medals will be awarded to the winning athletes. Each award will be followed by a show featuring internationally famous artists and musicians.